It is well known that homes, business offices, restaurants, and many other locations where people are found are decorated with living plants. One of the favorite decorations is a hanging basket of plants. The hanging is supported from a hook or chain attached to the basket which is hung over a nail or any other convenient support above the basket. The only problem such baskets present is that they must frequently be watered, pruned, fertilized, or otherwise treated to keep the flowers and plants in a vigorous growing condition so as to provide the best appearance. Removing overhead baskets from their high location requires a ladder and considerable time. A tool is needed to obviate the need for a ladder.
The prior art has made some attempts to solve this problem, but none is truly the answer to this problem. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,768 to Denis there is shown a tool with a rigid supporting ring, that may be placed under and around a hanging basket. The rigid structure makes it very difficult to retrieve a basket from a high place and remove it for treatment because the handle must be kept upright or the basket may fall out of the ring. Furthermore, this tool works only with a rigid hook structure attached to the basket. U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,286 shows an elongated handle with a fork structure at the end of the handle to engage the hook, eye or other member which is attached to the ceiling hook for supporting the basket. This tool is especially useful for handling baskets which are hung from flexible cords or chains.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an all-purpose tool for handling any type of hanging basket. It is another object to provide a tool which can maintain the hanging basket in an upright position at all times while being moved from the normal hanging position, to the floor for treatment and back again. Other objects will become apparent from the more detailed description which follows.